Part II
AG Sen. Anand Ramlogan SC, in his contribution made between 4:30 and 4:45 pm, notes [Ref 6, page 124]: “In highly complex and technical matters, in particular, in relation to financial crimes, fraud matters, this abolition of preliminary inquiries will serve us well because we have known that matters have taken a meandering, endless path through the labyrinth of our criminal justice system for quite some time now, with no end in sight. The endemic backlog that presently exists, this will hopefully dynamite the log-jam and it is going to free up the system and have knock-on benefits down the road.”
Bill enters Committee Stage involving the whole Senate at 9:30 pm [Ref 6, page 224]. S34 amended upon motion by ex-Min. Volney between 11:15 and 11:30 pm [Ref 6, pages 280-281]:
'Question propose: That clauses 34 stand part of the Bill.
Mr. Volney: Mr. Chairman, I beg to move that clause 34 be amended as circulated: Delete and substitute the following clause:
"Discharge on the grounds of delay - Schedule 6
34. (1) Where proceedings are instituted on or after the coming into force of this Act and the Master is not, within twelve months after the proceedings are instituted, in a position to order that the accused be put on trial, the Master shall discharge the accused and a verdict of not guilty shall be recorded.
(2) Except—
(a) in the case of matters listed in Schedule 6; or
(b) where the accused has evaded the process of the Court, after the expiration of ten years from the date on which an offence is alleged to have been committed—
(c) no proceedings shall be instituted for that offence; or
(d) no trial shall commence in respect of that offence.
(3) Except—
(a) in the case of matters listed in Schedule 6; or
(b) where the accused has evaded the process of the Court,
where—
(c) proceedings have been instituted;
(d) an accused is committed to stand trial; or
(e) an order is made to put an accused on trial, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, a Judge shall, on an application by the accused, discharge the accused and record a verdict of not guilty if the offence is alleged to have been committed on a date that is ten years or more before the date of the application."
Question put and agreed to
Clause 34, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.'
Draft Bill with Committee Stage amendments then proceeds quickly to 3rd Reading and vote. Division taken at p.m. as special three-fifths majority is required. Bill is passed unanimously by 29 Senators present and Senate adjourns at 11:34 p.m. [Ref 6, pages 283-285].
Opposition Leader says that [Ref 19]:
"Before the Committee Stage of the Senate was concluded discussions took place (as they say behind the President's chair) between an independent Senator, Senator Al-Rawi and Ramlogan about the impact of the proposed amendment to section 34 on the pending Piarco cases. The Senators all agreed that once section 34 came into force Galbaransingh and Ferguson would be entitled to apply to have the cases against them dismissed. Ramlogan assured the Senators that before the Act was proclaimed there would be full consideration of all issues, that all conditions requested in the debates in the House of Representatives and the Senate would be met and that a further review would be had, including an amendment of the Sixth Schedule to the Act to make the offences with which Galbaransingh and Ferguson were charged exempt from the application of section 34. He pointed out that the amendment to the Sixth Schedule could be done under section 27(3) by a Minister’s Order or by way of amendments to the Act prior to proclamation. "
7. 09 Dec 2011: Draft Bill passed by Senate returns to the House [Ref 13] as required when Bills passed by the House are amended by the Senate [Ref 15]. Hansard shows Bill debate started between 6:00 and 6:15 pm [Ref 14, page 109]. MP Colm Imbert notes the significant change to S34(2) between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. and asks for the reasons for the change [Ref 14, pages 126-127]. The Bill was passed unanimously by 37 MPs present without amendment between 6:45 and 7:00 p.m. [Ref 14, pages 132-134].
8. 16 Dec 2011 President of the Republic assents to the Bill – Act No. 20 of 2011 [Ref 13].
9. 17 Dec 2011 James Lewis QC presents his opinion on appeal as to extradition to AG Ramlogan [Ref 7].
10. 19 Dec 2011: AG Ramlogan announces his decision not to appeal Boodoosingh J's decision because Ish Galbaransing and Steve Ferguson will be tried locally [Ref 7].
10b. 20 Dec 2011: AG Ramlogan, in responding to a release by the US Embassy on 20th Dec 2011, said in a statement:
"Of paramount importance is the question of where... the defendants are likely to be brought to justice in the quickest and shortest possible time. Not appealing means that the way is cleared for courts in Trinidad and Tobago to commence the trial of the defendants without further delay. It does not mean that the defendants will walk free without facing trial—a possible prospect if the State appealed. “The Attorney General has every confidence in the ability of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to competently and fairly try these defendants and deliver justice according to law.” [Ref 7]
11. Feb 2012: Ministry of Justice requested from the DPP an indication of the number of matters to which 34(3) of the Act would apply [Ref 8].
12. 22 May 2012, the DPP's office reponded by way of letter to the MoJ, advising thate there were forty-seven (47) matters for which committal papers had been received for offences committed more than ten (10) years ago and which were not covered by Schedule 6 INCLUDING Piarco 1. [Ref 8]
13. 20 Jul 2012, AG Ramlogan leaves T&T in period 20 Jul - 04 Aug 2012. [Ref 9]. Minister of Environment & Water Resources Ganga Singh acts as AG during his absence [Ref 16].
14. 24 Jul 2012, Judiciary and Justice Sector Committee meeting was held, with the ex-Min. of Justice Volney and DPP Gaspard in attendance. According to the DDP's letter: "During this meeting, the effect and to some extent, the import of Section 34 of the Act were raised. This prompted a response by the Minister of Justice that Cabinet had made a decision." [Ref 8]
DPP maintains that "I had never been asked to comment on the significance of section 34(2) and 34(3), prior to the Bill being introduced into the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago on the 11th of November 2011." [Ref 8]
15. 06 Aug 2012, the ex-Min. of Justice Volney tabled Cabinet Note J (12) 29 which sought Cabinet’s approval to proclaim the Act with effect from January 1st 2013 [Ref 9, Ref 12].
16. 31 Aug 2012: Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act 2011 comes into effect due to partial proclamation by President. Under this Act section 34(2) and 34(3) are of such effect that any matter involving offences committed over ten (10) years ago cannot now be tried unless they are excepted by Schedule 6 of the Act [Ref 10]. None of the assurances given by AG Ramlogan were effected [Ref 19].
16.1 2 Sept 2012: The Express' Asha Javeed is first to present to the public, the early proclamation of Section 34 and its implications for some high profile cases [Ref 20].
17. 12 Sep 2012: A Bill to repeal the “oversight” of the controversial Section 34 in the Administration of Justice (Indictable Offences) Act 2011 is unanimously passed by 35 MPs in an emergency session of the House [Ref 11, Ref 17].
18. 13 Sep 2012: The draft repeal Bill moves to the Senate where it is passed by 25 of 30 Senators present - 5 [Independent] Senators voted against [Ref 17].
19. 14 Sep 2012: President assents to draft repeal Bill [Ref 18].
20. 20 Sep 2012: Leaked Cabinet Note J (12) 29 dated 06 Aug 2012 – published in Express – page 3 – refers to Cabinet Minute 1807 of 23 Dec 2011 as being relevant [Ref 12]. Hon. Prime Minister issues a Statement to the Nation after 7:15 p.m., in which she outlined her actions and advised that ex-Min. Volney has been fired [Ref 9].
21. 21 Sep 2012: Opposition leader issues his timeline of events surrounding S34 [Ref 19]. He said:
"Ramlogan owed the public answers to the following questions:
(i) Why did he not appeal Justice Boodoosingh’s decision and apply to put fresh evidence before the Court of Appeal that section 34 now rendered a local trial impossible and that accordingly the basis on which Justice Boodoosingh decided that it was unjust and oppressive to extradite Galbaransingh and Ferguson no longer existed?
(ii) Why did he tell the public that he decided not to appeal because there was to be a local trial when he knew that once section 34 was proclaimed Galbaranbsingh and Ferguson would be discharged?
(iii) Why did he not take steps to amend the Sixth Schedule or section 34 to make sure that Galbaransingh and Ferguson could not rely on section 34?
(iv) Why did he not advise Cabinet on August 6th that the proclamation of section 34 would mean that Galbaransingh and Ferguson would be entitled to be discharged?
(v) Did he fail to do all of these obvious things because it was his government’s intention that Galbarabsingh and Ferguson should go free? Or was that result his own private intention?"
References:
1. Ruling by Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, 07 Nov 2011:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/ISH--Steve-Ruling-136342608.html 2. Version of the Bill tabled for reading in house 11 Nov and 18 Nov 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/legislations/b2011h31.pdf 3. Hansard for 1st reading in the House on 11 Nov 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hh20111111.pdfHansard 18 Nov 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hh20111118.pdf 4. Hansard for reading in the Senate 22 Nov 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hs20111122.pdf 5. Version of the Bill tabled for reading in the Senate 22 Nov 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/legislations/b2011h31-1rS.pdf 6. Hansard in the Senate 29 Nov 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hs20111129.pdf 7. Trinidad Guardian article, 11 Sep 2012, on QC Lewis' advice given on 17 Dec 2011 to AG Ramlogan:
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-09-10/qc-appeal-over-ish-and-steve%E2%80%99s-extradition-ag-ignored-legal-advice 8. Full media statement by DPP Gaspard, 12 Sep 2012:
http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog/?p=6707 9. Statement by PM Persad-Bissessar, 20 Sep 2012:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/kamla-persad-bissessar/statement-from-prime-minister-kamla-persad-bissessar/10151433378527846 10. Legal Supplement Part B–Vol. 51, No. 142 – Trinidad & Tobago Gazette, 30 Aug 2012:
http://www.ttparliament.org/legislations/ln2012-348.pdf 11. Trinidad Guardian article on Repeal of Section 34, 13 Sep 2012:
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-09-13/mps-repeal-section-34-after-amendments 12. [need to add PDF of leaked Cabinet Note J (12) 29 - printed in Trinidad Express, 20 Sep 2012, page 3.]
13. Link to Parliament TT website which contains the documents related to the progress of the The Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Bill, 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/publications.php?mid=28&id=623 14. Hansard in House of 09 Dec 2011:
http://www.ttparliament.org/hansards/hh20111209.pdf 15. The Process of Lawmaking:
http://www.ttparliament.org/publications.php?mid=66 16. Trinidad & Tobago Gazette (Extraordinary), No. 128 - 25th July 2012:http://www.news.gov.tt/EGazette/Gazette%202012/Gazette/Gazette%20No.%20128%20of%202012.pdf
17. Progression of The Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) (Amendment) Bill, 2012:
http://www.ttparliament.org/publications.php?mid=28&id=643 18. Assent of The Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) (Amendment) Bill, 2012:
http://www.ttparliament.org/legislations/a2012-15.pdf 19. Media statement by Opposition Leader giving timeline from his viewpoint:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/opposition-leader/the-clause-34-timeline/419292051464999 20. Asha Javeed's release of the early proclamation:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/President_moves_to_end_preliminary_court_enquiries-168290866.html